August 29, 2025

I hope your child has had a great 1st week. Although some things will seem like review (for the 2nd graders) I explained to them that we need to make sure everyone is on the same page with things to both have a smooth running classroom and being able to have common expectations. Week one of the First Six Weeks of School focused on establishing a welcoming, safe, and predictable classroom environment through activities that built community and taught basic routines. The focus included helping students get to know each other, learn classmates' names and interests, and practice fundamental procedures like lining up, all while fostering a sense of belonging and establishing high expectations for learning and behavior. We will continue this work into next week as well.

THE FIRST 20 MINUTES of the DAY

I wanted to review the 1st 20 minutes of each day.  As I said during conferences, it is a chance for kids to come in, connect with me, have breakfast/snack, and connect with their friends.  The doors of the school open at 7:25 and the time goes until our meeting at 7:50.  Students must be in the room by 7:40.  If your child arrives after 7:40 it makes it challenging for them to access this important time. Please do everything you can to have them in school by 7:40.  

Each day we do a Morning Meeting at 7:55.  Morning Meetings are powerful because they afford students time to socialize with their peers and give me time to engage students in daily affirmations and social and emotional learning (SEL) activities. Morning Meeting's four components are a greeting, sharing from students, a group activity, and a morning message.  Once we hit October, parents are welcomed to join a morning meeting anytime they wish.  They are always done by 8:15.  You don't have to let me know if you are joining, just come on in.

I read a bunch of books, to the class, during our read a loud times. This week's titles are as follows (I have linked recorded readings of these in case you would like to listen to them with your child).

The Day You Begin

First Day Jitters

Our Class is Our Family

This School Year Will Be the Best

The Wonky Donkey

Cats Don't Like That

A Letter From Your Teacher

The 1st week is always unique and can offer a variety of feelings. Kids have to get out of their summer routines and most have to get up much earlier in the morning. There's the nervousness of joining a new class and/or even being a new student to the school. There is also the excitement of starting new, seeing old friends and being back into the school routine. As I enter year 28, I have some of the same feelings too. However, what stands out the most to me is the sense of happiness. Our school is an amazing place. It's a team, it's a family, and in many ways it can feel like "home." The entire staff cares about and wants the best for each of your children. It's a place that functions so well because of the core belief that we are a team. We are teachers, custodians, para-educators and families that work together to create an incredible experience for your child. It is with this in mind that most excites me about kicking off another school year. I hope it also allows you to feel the same. Please reach out anytime with questions, concerns or thoughts.

NOTES:

*Please check out the right hand side of the blog page.  It has links for schedules and lots of other information.

*Please have your child wear sneakers on gym days. If you want your child to leave a pair in their cubby send them in and let me know. I will help them with that.

*We try to go out for recess no matter what (unless it is below zero or pouring rain). Please make sure your child dresses for the weather. The cooler weather often has kids looking for a sweatshirt or fleece.

*I am going to ask for understanding when it comes to the blog. I usually try to get this done during my only prep period on Fridays. I am typing and composing it at a rather fast pace. If I have a typo or a misspelling (because I have fat fingers) please correct it in your mind and continue on. I firmly believe editing is important but getting the information out in a timely manner trumps that (in this case). Thank you for your understanding.

That is all for now. I hope you all have a great weekend. It has been a fantastic week and I am looking forward to the year to come.

Peace,

Mr. Young

August 27, 2025

 And . . . We're Off!  What a great first day of school. It was so much fun getting to know the new 1st graders and seeing how much the 2nd graders have grown. We had our first Morning Meeting (as a class). This is something that we will do everyday and is the backbone to developing and inclusive, communicative, and empathetic classroom. The activity during today's meeting was the singing of Aiken Drum. The silly sing-a-long is a Scottish folk song, also known as a nursery rhyme, about a man whose body and clothing are made of different foods, and who plays a ladle. The song, with its simple, repetitive structure, is excellent for children and can be adapted by singers to invent new food-based versions of the character.

We also introduced two tools that we will use a lot this year; crayons and pencils. The students practiced their pencil grip, modeled how to take care of the tools and created a piece about their favorite activity from this summer. Between the camping, swimming, traveling, and sprouting events, the class surely seemed to have a very exciting summer break.

Today's special was PE. The students worked with Ms. Zaino about what PE class is and set some expectations as a group. They then had a chance to move their bodies and get some energy out. Please remember to have kids wear sneakers on PE days.

We had an unexpected fire drill (accidentally pulled in another classroom) this afternoon.  The kids did a great job of handling the practice and we were even able to count this as our August practice. 

This blog is how I will communicate all year. I will post on Fridays (sometimes it ends up being Saturday/Sunday).  You can subscribe to the blog too.  This will send you an email with the post (it doesn't include videos) in it. If you are unsure on how to do this, please watch the video below.

That is all for now.  I hope you are Abel to connect with your child about today and you also have a great evening.

Peace,

Mr. Young